Legacy Database Developers | Database Developers Nottingham

What is classed as Legacy Infrastructure?

Legacy infrastructure refers to older systems, hardware and technologies that have been in use for a long long time within an organisation and whilst effective and reliable at one point, they have become outdated, inefficient and/or difficult to maintain. However, just because a system is classed as 'legacy' this does not mean that is it nonfunctional. It could simply mean, it is an older system that still functions as originally intended but has been built with now obsolete technologies or outdated software development techniques.

Many organisations continue to rely on legacy infrastructure despite it being outdated. These systems often underpin critical workflows and operational processes and the perceived cost, time and resource requirements to replace them can outweigh the benefits of change.

The risks & issues with Legacy Infrastructure

Lack of Compatibility - Many legacy systems are not compatible with newer technologies, software and/or hardware which can make integration and interoperability challenging if not impossible.
Maintenance Issues - As technology evolves, it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain and support legacy infrastructure due to a lack of vendor support, outdated documentation and an ever shrinking pool of skilled professionals and communities.
Security Risks - Legacy infrastructure often contains vulnerabilities that have not been patched or addressed due to discontinued support from vendors or outdated security protocols.
Limited Scalability and Flexibility - Legacy systems often lack the scalability and flexibility needed to adapt to changing business requirements or accommodate growth.
Costly - Whilst legacy infrastructure may have lower upfront costs compared to more modern alternatives, the total cost of ownership over time can easily become higher due to the maintenance and support costs along with operational inefficiencies.

Examples of Legacy Infrastructure

Traditional on-premises servers that utilise obsolete operating systems & software.
Bespoke legacy software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Workforce Management (WFM) systems which are devoid of modern features, functionalities and integration capabilities.
Offline filed based systems - Excel, Access, CSV
Ageing networking equipment including routers, switches and firewalls.
Dated telecommunications solutions and the associated infrastructure.
Legacy mainframe computers running outdated software applications.

Addressing the risks and issues associated with your Legacy Infrastructure

If you are concerned that your legacy infrastructure is already – or will soon be – causing problems in your business, whether through all out system failures, increased security risks or plain old inefficiencies, there are steps you can take to mitigate the risks in a structured way. Below is a general guide based on the approach we use at Cool Code Company when helping clients transition away from legacy systems. Depending on your situation, some steps may be reordered or skipped altogether.

Assess & Document - First and foremost, it is imperative to understand what your current environment looks like. A comprehensive assessment of your legacy infrastructure should be undertaken to understand and visualise it's current state, dependencies and limitations. The assessment should include all components, configurations and integration points as this will form the basis of your migration roadmap.
Prioritise - Identify critical systems and components that need immediate attention due to security risks, performance issues or business impact - whatever is more important to you. These elements should be prioritised as the starting point for upgrades or replacements.
Integration - Determine whether there are ways to integrate some of your infrastructure with newer technologies & platforms as this can extend their lifespan and enhance functionality without the cost of replacements.
Modernisation - Look at areas you can modernise by gradually replacing or upgrading outdated components with newer, more efficient technologies. This could involve migrating to cloud-based services or virtualising servers for example.
Maintenance and Support - For infrastructure that can't be upgraded, integrated or replaced quickly, ensure that you have adequate support and maintenance plans in place. This may involve contracting with third-party vendors for support services or training internal staff to handle maintenance tasks.
Security - Ensure you have solid security measures in place to protect your legacy infrastructure from cyber threats and vulnerabilities which can be done via regular security assessments, patch management (where available) and access controls.
Backup and Disaster Recovery - Where possible, implement reliable backup and disaster recovery strategies to mitigate the risk of data loss or downtime in case of system failures or disasters.
Legacy System Retirement - Evaluate whether certain legacy systems can be retired or decommissioned if they no longer serve a critical business purpose or if the cost of maintaining them outweighs the benefits of keeping them.

Systems Worth Keeping in their Legacy State

Sometimes, the risks of migrating legacy software systems far outweigh the potential benefits and in these cases, it makes sense to leave them as they are. Here are some common scenarios where legacy systems might be left alone -

Archived and/or Historical Data Systems

Systems that are used for viewing and/or extracting historical data (accounting archives, old CRM data, past project databases) don't always need to be upgraded. Providing they are secure and readable, they can often sit comfortably in their legacy form.

Offline Systems

Legacy software that runs in isolated environments, aren't connected to the internet and performs specific offline functions may not benefit from newer, cloud based technologies or indeed, any modernisation at all.

Business Critical Systems with Severe Impact Potential

In cases where software systems are absolutely essential to the running of the business and tightly woven into company operations, replacing or upgrading it might pose real, credible risks to the business in case of anything going wrong. If there is no modern equivalent that offers the same features or migrating it would guarantee downtime, supporting and maintaining the system as is can be the less risky option.

Low and No Change Business Systems

Many companies have systems that support core business processes that haven't changed in a long time and likely won't in the future. This could be legacy inventory systems, order processing modules or time tracking tools that are well integrated and very familiar to staff. These systems quite often offer more value as is rather than replacing them.

How Can we Help?

Here at Cool Code Company, we have helped many of our clients upgrade and replace their legacy systems. We can help you move your systems in a way that suits your situation - maybe you've got the budget to take a big bang approach or maybe you need to do it gradually - we can evaluate your current environment, help create a migration plan based on a risk reduction approach and undertake the migrations for you.

We can also help you to make your legacy infrastructure more robust if you are not able to upgrade or replace it for whatever reason whether that's via integration with newer technology, undertaking maintenance and debugging or securing the infrastructure in another way.

Get in touch today to discuss any concerns you may have about your legacy infrastructure, our UK based experts will be glad to help.

Legacy Infrastructure